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Species
These races are intended for various game settings. They are for personal use. Fantasy Setting Quite inspired by The Elder Scrolls, but also leaning heavily on other fantasy games and settings, this setting has several categories of normal races, the mer, earthlings, humans and dark spawn. A now believed extinct category also exists, the Ars. 'Ars' The Ar races were the two races created by Cosmos and Chaos respectively, and as such, theoretically created by gods. The Dwemar and the Eldar. The two races were at odds with eachother in the beginning, and it's widely believed that they caused the downfall of eachother. The Dwemar are said to have been created from stone, by Cosmos, when the Great Dragon who was the guardian and sole inhabitant of the planet was corrupted by Chaos, who caused her to bear children who in turn destroyed her. The Dwemar had one mission, and that was to destroy the dragons, but they failed entirely. While the Dragons were actually almost erradicated, the Eldar appeared , in much the same way that the Dwemar had simply appeared. While the Dwemar were devout followers of Cosmos, the Eldar had no particular reason to worship Chaos who had created them, and most of them took to worshipping the sun, and they became allies of the Dragons who taught them magic, an art the Dwemar were incapable of, they were almost even set with the technologically advanced Dwemer. The Dwemar had their kingdoms underground, and their tunnels were said to span the entire planet, where as the Eldar did manage to spread by dragon flight, they were mainly found in a few large settlements spread across one continent. The Eldar experimented with magic on captured Dwemar soldiers as well as some of their own condemned prisoners, they managed to create a race of hardy, but short lived crossbreeds between the two, namely the human race, but the action somehow corrupted the very essense of the two parent races, but this change happened over the course of a few centuries. The humans were first used in war against the Dwemar, and almost destroyed them, but then they eventually turned on the Eldar and enslaved their masters. The Dwemar were forced to hide underground, and the few Eldar who eluded capture hid in various places, and that was when the changes started setting in slowly. Their lifespans and genetically withborn qualities were slowly taken away from them, and the became mer and earthlings. 'Earthlings' Decendant from the first people to walk the planet, the Dwemar. The Dwemer were the first people to walk the earth, they had vast tunnel networks under ground where they made their kingdoms, all in the name of Cosmos. They lead a war against the Dragons who inhabited the planet prior to the creation of the Dwemar, a battle which ended in a stalemate, and the creation of the Eldar (the only other Ar race known to have existed aside from the Dwemar). Several variations of the Earthlings exist, and while they collectively acknowledge their genetical differences, they do not differenciate amongst themselves and all consider themselves Dwemer, despite being quite far removed from the original Dwemer race. 'Dwarves' If asked, the Dwarves would NOT categorize themselves as Earthlings, but rather still consider themselves Dwemar, as they are trying to reclaim the lost heritage of their ancestors. Genetically, they are quite different from the species they evolved from, quite interestingly, evolution has gone the wrong way for the Earthlings, but the Dwarves retain many of the same traits. They are gifted stone-workers, prospecters and great metal workers, as well as remaining the most technologically advanced species on the planet, mainly due to their alliance with the other earthling race known as the Gnomes. Dwarves are built like shorter and stouter humans, but do not look unnaturally tall, they just look sort of unproportioned. Their society is a caste-based and clan-based society. The clans are pretty much just families (including extended family), but sharing a common name, and every one borne into one of these clans will from birth be assigned to a caste. Dwarves live for a very long time, they are naturally hardier than humans, but their childhoods are also very long (lasting over a hundred years before they are considered adults, and even then, they are only JUST considered adults). Dwarven Children do not differ from human children in many ways, except they seem to develop very fast in the last 10-20 years of childhood compared to the other 80 or so, and they remain very childish and dependant for very long. Most Dwarves are considered old by the time they turn 300, due to the backbreaking lives most of them live, with the exception of a few of the castes. Dwarves craft almost solely out of metal, clay and stone. It's very rare to find wood used in dwarven constructions, for obvious reasons. Dwarves have an alliance with both Haflings and Gnomes, living in symbiosis, and infact, the Dwarves consider the Gnomes and Haflings to be castes in their society. 'Halfings' Called Halflings by humans and mer, they refer to themselves as Dwemar, but also frequently use the term "Hobbit". The closest thing to understanding how two genetically different races with the same ancestor race can call themselves the same race, but also use a different term to describe themselves, would be when humans refer to themselves by nationality, but the comparison is weak, and the enormous cultural gap doesn't help. Haflings share none of the Dwarves qualities, with the exception of actually also being genetically suited to live underground, and being roughly the same size. Usually a little shorter, and not quite as stout, the halfings live in happy anarchy, which they somehow get to function. Naturally curious and adventurous, they live to follow their hearts, but no halfling loves anything as much as they love their homes and their families, as well as their neighbours. They can be quite blatantly honest with eachother, and have a hard time taking things personally. The only thing that seems to make a halfling sad, is if it is denied access to the things it cares for, and interestingly, if someone it cares for is unhappy. They are quite a collective people, sharing in joys and sorrows. Their one great talent is their ability to raise cattle and grow crops. Halflings live as long as Dwarves, but have quite fewer passions. They care much for good food, strong drinks and good pipes. They are also not in any way monogamous. They supply their Dwarven allies with food and drink in return for protection, tools and other things they need to carry on with their existence. Obviously, halflings live above ground, but are only found in valleys, quite often hard to get to without travelling through the underground passes which the Dwarves live in. Often, larger Hafling settlements are found near a Dwarven city. The few humans and mers who have been allowed to visit halfling villages, were quite surprised to find that their entire working system, despite being total anarchy, is so advanced, that it shames the entirety of food productions amongst the other races. 'Gnomes' Having no other name for themselves than Dwemar, they are referred to as Gnomes by mer and men, they are genetically almost identical to Haflings, the main difference being their culture and their brains. Gnomes are not capable of participating in hard labour for very long, like their two fellow Earthling species, but manage to devote their entire existence to academical pursuits, for the most part. Gnomes are almost entirely incapable of administering their own existence, and depend entirely on the Dwarves and Haflings, for food, protection and materials to carry out their projects, as well as labour. 'Mer' Mer races are directly decendant from the Eldar, but many of the Mer races have nothing in common at all, and share only a few common traits. The Mer are known as Elves commonly. Apart from the Altmer, all Mer races live approximately 200-350 years. 'Aldmer' The Aldmer are believed to be almost extinct, with the last members simply living amongst the Altmer as if they were a part of that species. Amongst the Altmer, they are simply known as the elders, and are considered a part of that race. Genetically, there is very little difference, albeit the Aldmer are more potent magic workers, and have, what appears to be never ending lifespans. It's also entirely possible that they've found some ways to extend their lives. 'High Elves' Known as the Altmer, these mer are the most secretive by far. They study magic and live far from the reaches of civilization. Very long-lived, by far the longest living species, but incredibly infertile, adding but a handful to their already very narrow population by the centuries, and they have many enemies. They Worship the Sun and remain quite true to the original Eldar ideals, it's even believed that some of the leaders among the High Elves are infact Eldar (or were, until their race was changed into Aldmer), but these rumours are unconfirmed. They organize themselves in the old crumbling Eldar Cities that are found furthest from the reaches of mankind, living primarily in towers. High Elves live in a sort of magocracy, except their society is spread out in small pockets all over the continent. Priests of Helios and the elected leaders (usually based on age and magical aptitude) are the only ones held above the "rabble". They think very little of humans, hold the other elven races in some regard, but definately do not respect them or consider them equals, and the earthlings are still regarded by them with suspicion and prejudice. Some Altmer do not seem to age much at all, while others die of old age around the time they turn 500. 'Bosmer' Bosmer, they are called by the Altmer and most of the other elven races, wood elves by the humans. They call themselves the Dalish though, and live as nomads in the great forrest regions. Wood elves blame humans for most things, but infact, they harbor a strong dislike of most of the other races, with the one exception being the moon elves, who are infact ALSO Bosmer with no genetical differences. The Moon Elves differ only from the Dalish in culture, living in amazing cities, that they have rebuilt from the ruins of the Eldar outposts. The Dalish and the Moon Elves rely on eachother to some degree, and have high oppinions of eachother, the main difference in their outlook on the world being their level of tollerance for anyone NOT Bosmer. The Moon Elves are perhaps the most well connected of the Mer races, trading information and wares with all other races. The Moon Elves have their own city states and these city states are part of the Empire. 'Dark Elves' The Dunmer, as they also call themselves, fled away from human civilization when the uprising came. It isn't exactly known why they changed so drastically in appearance, but it's believed that it has something to do with the fact that they settled on a vulcanic Island. While they look like Bosmer, they have red eyes and black/grayish/purple skin, some times even blue. They are only found on their Vulcanic Island, living just North West of Nordmar, quite close to the great unknown. Their entire Island is warm, despite the climate, because of a, somehow tempered Vulcano known as The Heart of Island. 'Mixed Species' Certain species are the result of other recognized species mating. Interestingly enough, humans are actually the only species capable of interracial breeding. 'Half-Elves' Two variants of half-elves exist, the species known as the "Manmer" who were the result of interbreeding between men and the Aldmer. The Manmer lived amongst humans for centuries as slaves of the Empire, and as freaks and gypsies in other parts of the world. It was not until the Bosmer faction known as the Moon Elves decided to join the Empire officially, with their few city states, that the Manmer were released officially and accepted as Imperial Citizens (with the exception of slaves still existing in a select few city-states where they hold some sort of cultural importance - However, the Bosmer were granted rights to lead warfare to resolve the dispute against these notable objecters), most of the Manmer live among the Moon Elves now, and a few Manmer cities have even been formed. The other kind of half-elf is litterally the result of direct human/mer interbreeding. Humans are more dominant in their genes, but on average, it results in a androgynious, very delicate and sinewy person with few cosmetic traits from both worlds (half man/half Dunmer will have dark skin, red eyes but looks human compared to a Dunmer, ect.). While it very rarely happens, it's believed that seperate manmer species could develop from continued breeding on half-elves. This was experiemented upon by certain noble families in previously mentioned imperial city states. Half elves add about 50 years to their lifespan compared to humans, and age visually much slower. Manmer are considered very attractive by both men and mer and are interestingly just as attracted to these races as they are to their own race. If it wasn't that the manmer have actually developed their own culture which is rooted strongly in them, it's unlikely that they would persist to exist. 'Half-Orcs' Because the Orcs are actually human(ish) they can also, in rare cases, breed with other species. Breeding with a human results in an ugly Orc/man hybrid, with no specific genetic traits, looking mostly human, but with sickly skin colour and jagged teeth and a slightly strange bone-structure, where as breeding with the mer results in more interesting speciments, similar to a sub-species of orcs that was discovered some years ago, believed to be the result of corrupted manmer. For reasons not entirely known, when the manmer were corrupted, it took only a few generations for them to shun the corruption and possibly due to their elven heritage, they immediately removed themselves from the others, and started forming their own tribes, showing increased civil behaviour and intellect. These came to be known as Orsimer. It's possible to achieve the same result if an orc mates with an elf of any kind. The orsimer live primarily in Nordmar where they have a few villages, but also further east where they have a small region they claim as their own. They are not hostile towards humans as a whole, but as a majority have no interest in joining the empire. They Worship various gods depending on their tribe and are infact quite diverse. In Nordmar, they have a good relationship with the local government who occasionally employes them as Housecarls (equivalent of a Knight in the rest of the Empire), or as mercenaries. They also trade with the Nordmarians and have a casual relationship with them, allowing travel between eachothers territories, and a desire to learn from eachothers cultures. Orsimer have developed their own smitihng techniques that are quite renown amongst mankind, based partially on what they could learn from the Goblins, which again traces back to Dwarven forging techniques. While still considered slightly (this is only partially true though) inferior to true Dwarven crafting, it's definately still impressive. 'Humans' Humans are humans... Don't be silly. 'Beast Races' The Beast Races are realateively few in numbers, and most of them are native to the big, vast and otherwise uninhabited areas found in between the western civilizations of Daegone and in Rahmara's southern parts. They don't really have anything in common, but are simply categorized this way by the empire. No corrupted version of any of the beast races exist, because none of the beast races existed at the time of the corruption. 'Gnolls' Gnolls are divided into several sub-categories such Wolf-Gnolls and Hyena-Gnolls. It's doubtful that the the majority of the seperate variants even know that the others exist. Gnolls are incredibly primitive, capable of both bipedal and quadropedal travel and have opposable thumbs. They only just about intelligent enough to manufacture weapons, tools and armor, capable of making primitive structures and such. They share very few traits with humans. They live in tribal societies and do not seem concerned with religion, but they do share the same bond with the moon as normal canines do, and organize their hierachy much in the same way. A select few Gnoll subspecies have been discovered that appear more intelligent and civilized. 'Khajiit' Khajiit are, like Gnolls, mostly a primitive race with a select few exceptions. The likeness of Gnolls and Khajiit is striking, with the exception of Khajiit showing mostly catlike behaviour as they, which is sort of a given considering that they are cat-people. Interestingly enough, ancient tales from the eastern parts of the Daegone speak of Catmen who sneak into people's houses, who were supposedly great thieves. At first discovery, it was assumed that these Khajiit were actually the ones from the tales, but studies have proven that the Khajiit are both terrible thieves and way too young a species to be the subject of such stories. While great climbers and generally stealthy, the Khajiit have no knack for theft. Khajiit exist in the eastern Daegone and in Rahmamra and resemble existing cat species, such as tigers or Cheetahs. 'Argonians' Lizardmen, again, the same model as Gnolls. Lizardmen are the only beast race species which is suspected of possibly having existed prior to the corruption, but there is no strong evidence. Argonians are reptillians, and differ from the other beast races, raising the question if any animal family could possibly develop to a near-human and sentient form. Argonians are mostly found in the tropical areas in mid-Rahamra, as well as certain parts of the Eastern Daegone. Most of them are relatively peaceful, with some exceptions. 'Harpies' Harpies appear part bird, part human, and do not appear to share the same origin (namely evolution) as the other beast races. They appear to be magical beings. Also known as Hagravens in certain parts of the world (mainly the northern parts). 'Draconians' A Draconian as a subspecies of a dragon, often, in older scriptures, mistakenly categorized as a member of the beast races which is why it's briefly mentioned here. 'Monster Races' These races are quite ancient, and are the direct source of many ancient stories. The list in incomplete, but these are some of the most common. 'Troll' A troll is a semi-sentient being of huge proportion. They are quite rare, and their bodies are considered quite valuable, being full of fat, strong bones, very strong teeth and tough hide. They shun human society and, while capable of eating other animals and living beings, as well as plants and fruits, but they do not appear to live off of anything specifically. How they stay alive is a mystery. Trolls are too big to hunt properly. Trolls are known to be playful around lone travellers, but can be very dangerous. 'Cave troll' Ironically, ordinary trolls are far more often found in caves, but Cave trolls are named for their ability to tunnel. Cave trolls are non-sentient predators that, albeit rare, are very aggressive in nature. They are considered incredibly dangerous and are able hunters. 'Dire Beasts' Dire Beasts are strange semi-magical and near-sentient and much larger versions of normal animals, typically predators, but other variants exist as well. The most common speciments being dire wolves and dire bears, at least in Daegone. Dire beasts are very dangerous, but have differing "personalities". Some take interest in humans, while others hate them, and that is just one example of how the dire beasts differ from eachother. Smart enough to survive on their own, and powerful enough to take control of any pack, if they are pack animals, that is. 'Taurs' When the Ar races fell, a number of mysterious races appeared all over the known world, that were mixes of what appears to be either mer or man, and various animals, with no specific rules about how those combinations were made. Several centuries later, many of those combinations have died out, and a few of them have taken to being more common than others, forming small tribes and other societies. Most of them are primarily friendly with the Dalish, also known as the wood elves, and seem to loathe human society. Generally trusting of the Bosmer, not exactly trusting of other mer, but almost outright hostile towards all others. Common for all Taurs, is that they have the under-body of an animal, and several of them have the head of the animal as well. 'Dark Spawn' Dark Spawn are corrupted versions of the other races, that came to exist some centuries ago. The corruption, was a magical plague that spread through all of the races, mostly in remote locations many centuries ago, and put an end to the war between the races, and forced them to forge an uneasy alliance against their corrupted brethren. The corruption spread through bite or ingestion of corrupted blood, and caused facial contractions and changes in behaviour. The corruption was supposedly a result of Chaos' influence on earth. The corrupted were defeated, and the majority of them retreated underground in the ancient passage ways of the Dwemar, man y of which were entirely abandoned. The corruption doesn't exist in the same way anymore, the corrupted have now evolved into seperate species, gentically different from their parent races, but their blood remains toxic in larger doses. They no longer spread the corruption via bite or blood, and they are capable of mating naturally now, and retain more of their sentience than ever before, but remain incredibly hostile. Common for all the corrupted races is that they are nocturnal, and while they are now capable of walking in the sun, it wasn't possible for them during the times when the corruption was still spreading, and they still seem to find the sun unpleasant. The corrupted races do not age the same way as their parent races. All of them are known to have exceptionally short childhoods, and live relatively long, seen from a human standpoint. Where as the average Earthling lives quite a bit longer than the average Corrupted, and most Mer's much longer, the corrupted still have a collectively impressive average lifespan, usually amounting to somewhere between 150 to 210 years, with many living much longer though, especially the Falmer. 'Goblins' Goblins are the corrupted versions of Earthlings. Small but very strong, good climbers, very feral, on average not very intelligent and generally quite hostile towards all others. They are usually palish green in colour and look hideous by most people's definition. Desptie lack in intelligence and dominance, Goblins remain the most crafty of the corrupted races, and are used for labour and creation in general. Goblins make their lairs in mountains, taking up residence in the ruins of fallen Dwemar under-structures. Goblins are oppertunists, but very cowardly. They often ambush travellers by attacking in large numbers, but they aren't warfaring in nature at all, and shy away from conflicts and confrontation. Goblins often kill eachother over minor disagreements, and their lives as labourers often cuts their existences short. 'Falmer' These Corrupted Elves are as hidious as the Goblins and similar in appearance, but much taller, more intelligent and far more dangerous, but fewer in number, often living in small covens. Many Falmer remain capable of magic use, and generally function as the "shamans" and spiritual leaders of the corrupted in general. They often live on top of the mountains, or at least as high up as they can get without moving far away from the Goblins. Usually, they will not live further away from the globins than they could litterally walk there in minuts, but prefer living on surface, despite often spending several days underground when taking part in what ever goes on in their local community. Falmer are known to be quite intelligent, very scheming and plotting, incredibly relentless and unwilling to get their own hands dirty, unless it involves torture or general violation of the uncorrupted. Many Falmer both speak, read and write languages known amongst the non-corrupted races. Falmer do not die of old age, but are known to succeed eachother by assassination. 'Orcs' Orcs are by far the most dangerous of the Dark Spawn, taller, more muscular and much more aggressive. Surprisingly, not quite near as hideous as the other two Dark Spawn races. The Orcs are decendant from corrupted humans. Orcs are very dominant, they respect the falmer and consider them spiritual guides, and rely on the Goblins for production and labour, but the Orcs are the hunters and the warriors of the corrupted, and they are quite numerous, living on the surface, usually in small villages very close to the Goblins and the Falmer, but prefer living in secluded valleys or open plains. Orcs harbour a sense of honor, and, with the exception of magic, the sun and dragons, fear practically nothing. They take orders from their spiritual leaders, the Falmer, and do not question these orders, but otherwise live by their own set of ethics, rarely ambushing strangers as Goblins are known to do, nor torture violate prisoners as the Falmer are known to do. How ever, Orcs are known to seek martial challenges, meaning a band of travellers might find them under attack by two orcs. Orcs seek to prove their value as warriors and hunters all the time, and this often gets them killed. They are soldiers of the corrupted by birthright, and as such, they are essentially born expendable. 'Ogres' An ogre is the corrupted version of a troll. The creation of ogres puzzled many academics, as the trolls were not believed to be sentien, and it was believed that only sentient races could be corrupted, but as it turned out, Trolls are sentient, they are just quite unintelligent. Ogres are only different from trolls in behaviour in a few ways, and in apearance, also only slight changes. Ogres are used for heavy labouring, and as "attack dogs", so to speak.